What do you do with a diamond no one wants? You can’t keep it. Or can you?

While cleaning her ex-husband’s effects out of the attic, Terri finds an exquisite diamond pendant necklace. She’s determined to return the necklace to its proper owner, but the owner was brutally killed, a murder which remains unsolved, and her heirs want nothing to do with the diamond. Terri embarks upon a journey researching charities to which she can donate the diamond. When her research becomes dangerous, Terri contemplates solving the murder herself. Her best friend, Melanie, jumps feet first into investigating the murder, but her neighbor, Ryder, doesn’t want Terri exposed to any danger. Ryder, to Terri’s surprise, also wants to be more than neighbors with Terri. Luckily, he’s prepared to take any measure necessary to keep her safe because someone is determined to stop her inquiries.

Join Terri on her quest to find a home for the diamond, which may result in the unveiling of a murderer – if she survives long enough.

Excerpt

“We’re totally on to something.” Terri barely had a chance to close her door before Melanie made her proclamation.

Terri’s mouth dropped open, and her bag fell to the floor at Melanie’s words. “Are you out of your mind? We are done playing detective,” she shouted at her friend’s retreating back. When Melanie didn’t respond, she rushed to follow her through the hallway to the kitchen.

“Oh, please.” Melanie grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and took a deep drink before continuing, “Your man candy got a bit bent out of shape. Big whoop.”

She could not believe her ears. They had been followed by some thugs and then interrogated by the police as if they were the thugs, and her best friend thought it was all some big adventure. “Don’t you get it? We’re actually in danger. Someone was murdered.”

“I figured it all out.” Terri rolled her eyes and couldn’t wait to hear what exactly Melanie had figured out. “They won’t kill us because we don’t know anything.”

“Mel,” Terri gritted her teeth and waited for her friend to look at her before explaining, “those men who followed us don’t know we have no clue what’s going on. In fact, they probably think we do know something since they were following us and all.”

“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Terri fisted her hands before she throttled her friend, although any jury would let her off if they heard the rubbish Melanie was spouting. “Perhaps it’s time to leave the detecting to the professionals?” Terri held her breath as she waited for Melanie to acquiesce.

Melanie shrugged. “Let’s order pizza.” Terri sighed. Her friend hadn’t agreed to stop sticking her nose into police business, but if she was cheating on her diet to eat pizza, then she was more shook up than she let on. Surely, she wouldn’t want to continue nosing around now? Terri could only hope.

[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]

Praise for the Book

“Who knew that one necklace could lead to such adventure. From trying to find its owner to landing herself smack dab in the midst of an unsolved murder, Terri sure had her hands full. And I was entertained the entire time. […] Fingers crossed hers is the next book!” ~ ShannonVM

“This is for you if you like female amateur sleuths, stubborn and determined women, hilarious situations as well as a great combination of cosy suspense, humour, and romance. A funny and suspenseful book to read again; it is the very promising first in a new series.” ~ Karen

When Terri finds a valuable diamond necklace in her attic, instead of keeping it for herself, she decides to solve the mystery and find the owner. Because … what would Nancy Drew do? Throw in a hot neighbor - who also happens to be a private investigator - and a pushy friend, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a humorous mystery. As Terri investigates, she finds herself getting deeper and deeper into trouble and has to keep reminding herself that she’s “not in a John Grisham novel.”

I love the cute librarian-related quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the bookish references throughout. Unfortunately, both the characters and the plotline are unbelievable, and there are numerous editing errors and problems with the writing: too many physical descriptions and descriptions of actions; too much telling, not showing; extremely repetitive, monotonous storyline, with everyone constantly telling the other characters what has happened; too much similarity in names, e.g., the accountancy firm Schumacher and Scribner and the jeweler Schreibner; insights into other people’s minds even though the story is told wholly from Terri’s point of view.

While this mystery is solved, the author leaves Terri’s story on a cliffhanger, to be continued in the next book in the series.

Warnings: sexual references, violence.

Some of My Favorite Lines

“No way was Terri giving up chocolate, ice cream, or wine. Life was too short to be obsessed with yoga classes.”

“How come all her friends could read her like a book? It was flipping annoying.”

“Her life had suddenly turned into a suspense novel. Surely, things like this didn’t happen in real-life.”

“We’re not in a John Grisham novel.”

“She hadn’t managed to spend more than an hour alone with a book on Sunday. Who could live like that?”

“Judging by the looks other drivers were giving her, they weren’t as excited about the arrival of Monday morning. She grinned at their grumpy faces. To be fair, they didn’t get to work all day surrounded by books. Sucks for them!”

“Please stop creating more drama. We have enough drama without you creating some.”

“Terri put choking her friend at the top of her to-do list. Her friend obviously had a serious problem, and Terri was willing to choke that problem right out of her.”

About the Author

I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on from my mom's Harlequin romances to Nancy Drew to Little Women. When I wasn't flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed.

College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear.

After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law.

But being a lawyer really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out being a B&B owner wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul, where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go.

But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

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